The Butler County Emergency Management Agency and Butler County Health Department are collaborating to bring back and update the Special Health Care Registry.
Angie Beaton, health educator and emergency response planner, explained the registry is a tool to ensure people with specific medical needs are cared for during a crisis.
“We have this registry so that if there’s an emergency... then we (have)the names, and the phone numbers and the addresses of the people who have these special needs, and we could make sure that someone checked on them,” Beaton
She cited people requiring specific medications or medical devices that need refilling or recharging as examples of who should join the registry. A press release from EMA also included those:
• With severe respiratory problems (oxygen or ventilator dependent) that require a power source or ambu bag
• Dependent on airway suctioning (tracheotomy)
• On IV (intravenous) therapy
• Requiring tube feedings
• Requiring wound care or help with injections on a daily basis
• With physical or mental conditions that require daily medication
• With a language or cultural barrier
• With hearing or speech impairments
The Special Health Care Registry is not new. Signups were once included with tax forms, but that practice stopped for indeterminate reasons in 2020. The pandemic kept the health department and EMA from reviving the registry sooner.
“COVID unfortunately — especially with emergency management — got all the attention,” Beaton said.
The new registry is based online, which has advantages for remote accessibility by staff and ease of signup. The BCHD has jumpstarted signups by sending out a Health Alert, though Beaton doubts they have reached even a third of Butler County residents who should be on the list. The good news is, residents can sign up through a link on the butlercountyhealth.org homepage, over the phone at 573-785-8478 or in person at the health department itself at 1619 N. Main St.
Beaton said staff are willing to walk applicants through the process and, “We’ll accommodate anyone’s needs, even if they just want to call or if they want to come in.”
Once the registry is complete, the BCHD will double check the information biannually via phone calls. Keeping the list up to date is vital — Beaton has no doubt the information from 2020 is already obsolete. Recent disasters and events like the 4.0 earthquake in November and the devastating December tornadoes have underlined the need for the Special Health Care Registry.
“That to me signifies the urgency of making sure that we get these people on the list,” she said.